Karen Thomas

Karen Thomas serves as a Senior Lecturer and Director of the Tourism and Events Hub within the School of Business, Law, and Policing at Canterbury Christ Church University, where she also holds the role of Academic Enterprise Champion for the Business School, driving industry partnerships and knowledge exchange initiatives.

Her professional focus centers on tourism management, event management, and hospitality within the visitor economy, leveraging the Tourism and Events Hub—launched in 2016—as a strategic platform for collaborative industry engagement and practical knowledge transfer.

Through the Hub, Thomas cultivates business-to-business connections that address evolving sector needs, emphasizing real-world application of academic insights to strengthen tourism and events industry practices across the visitor economy ecosystem.